the whole shebang
by sugar free vanilla
Summary: '"No. I get the whole shebang." A shiver of delight runs up her spine at it all, her own personal happy ending. The man and the career and the shining band on her left hand leave her glowing with love and satisfaction and awe, all swirling through her in a dizzying concoction that feels a lot like perfection.' Insert for 6x01.


**Insert for after the proposal scene in 6x01, based on a tumblr prompt but not sticking to it to the letter - will post prompt at the end.**

**Pure fluff to make up for the super-angst-tragedy of 'bang'. Hope you enjoy!**

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><p>His eyes cast sunbeams over her, radiate joy and love and anticipation and he grabs her hand - the left - tugs it to his mouth to press kisses to the ring that sparkles there.<p>

A shimmer of a sigh escapes her lips as she wriggles her shoulders in unadulterated delight.

"We're getting married, Rick…! We're getting married!" The words taste delicious in her mouth, a flavour she could never tire of nor imagine anything better - until, perhaps, when she'd be able to remove the central word.

Yeah, she was kind of looking forward to that. A lot.

"We're getting married." His voice is more even than hers, less of a disbelieving gasp; but, _oh, _it leaves her heart thrumming in her chest, a hummingbird trapped beneath her ribcage. Unashamed, unrelenting happiness threads through the words, spilling out of them in tidal waves of bliss and washing over her. Knocking her from her metaphorical feet again and again until she's breathless with it.

Oh, God.

This man-

She's marrying him.

She wants to tell the world. Hire a plane to write it across the sky (_he'd love that) _or stop every stranger she comes by in the street to tell them her news (_they're new yorkers, they're not gonna care) _or -

Maybe she should just tell her dad first.

Sounds like a plan.

"Castle, I wanna tell - well, everyone actually - but my dad. I wanna tell my dad."

He laughs and it's a beautiful thing, crinkling at his eyes as the corners of his lips reach for the sky. "Well, go on then, love."

She giggles back and she's not sure why - she feels tipsy, buzzed like some foreign substance must be running through her veins. But there's not - just her adoration of him sparking through her blood and setting her alight from the inside out.

_Kate, I'm not proposing to you to keep you here or because I'm afraid I'm gonna lose you, I'm proposing because I can't imagine my life without you._

She'd been so scared of resenting him because he held her back that she forgot that Castle only ever pushed her forward; to bigger, brighter things.

A job at the Attorney General's office and a future with him? The grandest, most dazzling of combinations.

She hadn't thought she could have both.

She has to tell her dad.

The three rings for which she waits for him to pick up last an eternity, vibrate through her giddy bones until she's bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Katie?" Comes her father's voice through the phone.

"_CastleproposedandIsaidyesandhedoesn'tmindthatIgotthejobandwe'remakingitworkand-"_

"Sweetheart, could you maybe slow it down a little? I have no idea what you just said."

Yeah, she can do that - just… she needs to breathe. Breathe. _Okay, let's try this again._

"Castle proposed." There. Much clearer.

"And?"

"I said yes - and we're making D.C. work."

"Oh, Katie - I'm so happy for you. It's a beautiful ring, isn't it?"

Wait a second. _What?_

"Yeah - it's - how on earth would you know that?"

"Ah. Uh. Rick is a man of great taste."

"Dad." She did her level best to make sure her father could _hear _her eyes rolling through the speaker.

"Fine. So maybe I knew Rick was going to propose."

"Wha-? Since _when?" _

"He called me - maybe ten minutes after we left the diner? - asked me to meet him. He wanted my blessing."

"Your _blessing?_ Is this the Middle Ages, or?" Her tone is scornful but she's smiling. Stupidly, foolishly grinning.

Castle wraps an arm around her waist, drops a kiss to her temple, glances at her bashfully before burying his nose in her hair. "I'm old fashioned." He mumbles against her crown.

If she weren't so happy, she'd maybe be a little irritated - she makes her own decisions, doesn't need her father's approval to get married. It takes her by surprise, the flutter of glee in her gut at the thought her dad wants Castle to be part of their little family of two.

"I think… it's sweet?" Her voice tapers to a higher pitch, transforms into a question. But she does, even if she never expected to.

She feels a _whoosh_ of air against her scalp as Rick exhales in relief.

"So, in the end… You didn't have to choose, did you?"

"No. I get the whole shebang." A shiver of delight runs up her spine at it all, her own personal happy ending. The man and the career and the shining band on her left hand leave her glowing with love and satisfaction and awe, all swirling through her in a dizzying concoction that feels a lot like perfection.

And then the quake of her vertebrae is for a whole other reason, Castle dusting his lips over the shell of her ear, voice a low husk that shoots needles of want into her bloodstream.

"Oh, you'll get _the whole shebang, _Mrs. Castle-To-Be. As soon as we get home, I'm gonna _shebang _you until you forget your own name."

His voice is too quiet for the mic of her phone to pick up, but the strangled _meep_ that lets loose from her mouth definitely isn't.

"Bye Dad, love you." She manages breathlessly, even as her fiancé (!) - the very term leaves her reeling in the best of ways - lowers his mouth to _that spot_, right below her ear, the one that leaves her weak at the knees. Hanging up, she spins into his chest, strong arms encasing her immediately.

_'Take me home, Castle,'_ is but an uneven gasp against his lips.

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><p><strong>Prompt: Set post s5 finale — Kate calls to tell her father the great news, to which Jim Beckett says, "I know." Rick had already asked Jim for Kate's hand in marriage. (Bonus points if you include gigglylovedrunk!Kate and the scene with Jim/Rick) - VERAFLYNNS**

**tumblr: castleholic**


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